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| - Welp, I had an OK experience at Aura. It wasn't 1-star terrible, but it wasn't jaw dropping unforgettable either.
My biggest gripe with the property is the lack of transparency and convoluted wording of their lease agreement. As Shell pointed out on 10/18/2017 in their Yelp review, the application is deceptive. I actually tried to refer a potential tenant to live at Aura named Matt, and he pointed out right away that the calculated days is not accurate at all for the application fees, and I realize this now in hindsight; hindsight's 20/20, yeah?
Now beyond the management layer, the property itself is nice, don't get me wrong. Indoor hallways, luxury pool, cabanas (granted, did not work the first two months I was there, hence this 3 star rating), and a two-story gym. These all sound fine and dandy.
And to be fair, even the business center was nice. Natalie had the pleasure of bumping into me almost on a daily basis while touring potentials to the business center on the second floor, I was either in the big conference room or in one of the two side business rooms doing virtual interviews via VOIP such as Chime/Skype/WeChat etc.
The apartment itself was moderately okay. This is where some of the problems begin to come to light. I understand we were the first tenants to live at #4008, and we were astonished to find some cheap shelving in the bedroom closet as well as drawers that didn't pull out cleanly, as well as a freezer that didn't dispense water properly. Water pressure was really low in the shower and when we asked around we learned from other tenants that it was the same issue and they just learned to accept it. But hey, to be fair the washer and dryer unit are SUPER new and modern, and the refrigerator/freezer was HUGE and came with a water dispenser (but didn't work on day 1...) Ah, oversights...
On day 1 of my lease, the key I was given by the front office was the wrong key. No worries, I get that mistakes happen, and I got the key replaced to the correct one (thanks Natalie!) but I need to state this in my review to be give a clear overview of the total experience, that includes the good, the bad, and the accidents in between.
Where things kinda really went south for us was the early termination. To put this out as a disclaimer, my employer paid for my relocation.... Mostly. See, the amount of money I was given to post-compensate for the relocation expense wasn't enough to cover the final payout of $4567.49 and the two months of rent I had to pay prior (about $1226 per month times 2). Now you're looking at a total death cost of $7000. Yep, it cost that much to move out early, I can post screenshots from my bank statement if you want. So much for those "three months of emergency fund".... All gone!
Compare this to the move out expense at my current apartment in Rancho Cucamonga, of only $1887.00 and a 30 day notice ($1887.00, total $3774.00). Makes you wonder how Arizona gets away with charging more. Something something, landlord state (AZ) vs renter's right state (CA). But the previous place I lived at before Aura (Desert Club managed by Gables in North Phoenix) had only a 60 day notice and that was it, no further fees and yes it was also in Arizona. But I digress...
It was generous of my employer to cover relo, but I can totally envision someone in my shoes feeling saltier and giving a 1 star rating had relo not been covered at all. So prospective residents, please please please do keep this in mind if you are going to rent here; the early term fee (ETF) is going to hurt. A lot. Stay the full duration of your lease, or make sure your employer covers ALL of the relo, because if not you are going to look at a burnt checking account.
A note on maintenance: Maintenance is mostly good, but they were understaffed when I first moved in due to the lower occupancy. By the time I left there were two technicians, so maybe things have improved. It would've been nice to see some better scalability.
Another+: This property has a ParcelPending package locker at least at the time that I lived there, which is great to receive packages on YOUR time and not the leasing office.
Another+: The property is fiber ready. I wasn't made aware of this during the tour, but I found out after moving in. So you can call COX and get some Gigablast 1000 Mbps in your apartment! :)
Long story short, there's a mix of good and bad here. GOOD: Nice looking property, very luxurious amenities, indoor hallways, overall chic feel, fiber ready Internet, decent maintenance. BAD: Contract buy out fees, odd cost calculations, not-fully-examined infrastructure, low water pressure.
OVERALL: I can't recommend or discourage you from checking this place out. Apartment living is ultimately at the mercy of the property management group that is running the property, and Aura's management seems to be okay in that sense. There are a few gripes but if you can get over those things then Aura can be a good living experience for you.
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